‘Grand Theft Auto’ is so influential, the company’s stock just exploded after teasing a new game

The "Grand Theft Auto" series is among the likes of "Super
Mario," "Minecraft," "Pokémon," and "Tetris."

It's such a big deal, culturally, that it's a market-moving event
when the studio behind "Grand Theft Auto" — Rockstar Games — even
teases a new game. Such is the case with the past few
days.

On Sunday, at 9 a.m. ET, Rockstar Games' social media channels
all
published a single image: a blood-red Rockstar Games logo
with a faded/worn-looking outline. Video game fans pounced —
could it be? finally? the long-awaited sequel to 2010 Rockstar
hit "Red Dead Redemption"?

Rockstar
Games

The color and the style certainly lined up. It's been six years
since "Red Dead Redemption" launched on Xbox 360 and PlayStation
3 — a Western take on the third-person, open-world formula
popularized by the "Grand Theft Auto" series. "Red Dead
Redemption" was more serious in tone than the "GTA" games, and is
widely lauded for some of the finest storytelling that video
games — as a medium – offer.

Gunslingers against an artfully setting sun — with the same
blood-red color in the original tease, which is a signature color
scheme of the previous game. Keep in mind: Rockstar's still not
said a word (or responded to request for comment). These images
were published without any text, though the second image is
admittedly more straightforward than the first.

As you can see from the chart above, Take-Two Interactive's
(TTWO) stock price spiked on Monday morning, from $42.50/share to
$45.50/share, from a tease of a game. And keep in mind
we're not even talking about Rockstar's marquee franchise
("GTA").

Rockstar is likely to reveal more about its new project in the
next few days, which could be great news from Take-Two's
stockholders. We just wanna know more about this cowboy game.